The rape accused priest of the Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar, Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who was arrested September 21 by the Kerala Police, was sent to judicial custody till October 6, 2018 by the Pala Judicial Magistrate Court this morning, according to the news agency, ANI.

The police said in the remand report that the medical examination corroborated that the nun was sexually assaulted and added that the bishop had not only exploited the nun using his spiritual authority but also misusing ‘A Day With The Bishop’ programme. The police also claimed the priest tried to scuttle the investigation by influencing witnesses. The police, while seeking the custody of the priest had said that the attire worn by the priest at the time of the rape and his laptop need to be recovered. The police grilled the priest for three continuous days and all the while the alleged rapist had stuck to his claim that he did not rape the nun. Apparently, when the police found contradiction in his statements along with the circumstantial evidence the statements of the witnesses and the nun herself, the police arrested Mulakkal under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

In response to a letter the Catholic bishop of the Syrian Malabar Church, Franco Mulakkal had sent to Pope Francis of Vatican four days back stating that he wanted to relinquish his office temporarily, in order to fight the case against him for allegedly raping a nun, a statement from the Catholic Bishop Conference of India (CBCI) said the bishop was relieved of his pastoral duties. The statement read, “Bishop Franco Mulakkal has been temporarily relieved of his pastoral responsibilities by Vatican.”

Replacing Mulakkal, the Pope had appointed Bishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Bombay, Agnelo Rufino Gracias as the Apostolic Administrator of the Jalandhar Diocese with immediate effect, the statement said. The announcement comes amidst the interrogation Mulakkal is facing from the Special Investigation Team for the second day. The interrogation is still going on and according to the police sources, the arrest of Mulakkal can happen in a day or two. A nun, belonging to the same Jalandhar Diocese has lodged a complaint stating that the bishop raped her. Based on that, the SIT, headed by DYSP K Subash has been interrogating the priest for the last two days. As the questioning is likely to be extended to the next day, the protest by various Catholic reformation entities and group of nuns have entered its 13th day today, with the public support growing by each day.

Meanwhile, the nun who is alleged to have been abused by the priest had also sought urgent intervention of the Vatican for justice and asked for immediate removal of the bishop as the head of Jalandhar Diocese. The nun had questioned as to why the church was closing its eyes to the truth, when she had made up her mind to make public her suffering. The affected nun had also alleged that Mulakkal was using political as well as money power to bury the case against him. She further alleged that between 2014 and 2016, the bishop had sexually assaulted her repeatedly, a charge, which was vehemently denied by the clergyman. The priest had dismissed the allegation terming it as baseless and concocted and further insisted that she had levelled these allegations as the Catholic order had rejected her demand for favours.

As the interrogation of the Catholic Bishop of Jalandhar, Franco Mulakkal at the state of the art room at the CID office of the Kerala Police in Thripunnithura for the second day is progressing, the police is trying to tighten the loopholes and find clinching evidence from his statements, as the bishop is accused of raping a nun. The bishop came to the CID office from a private hotel in Kundanoor this morning, accompanied by police escort. Even as the interrogation is continuing, Kerala DGP, Lokanath Behera has spoken to the media and hinted that the arrest of the bishop is imminent and he added that the investigating team can take independent decision whether to take Franco Mulakkal into custody or not. The interrogation team includes Kottayam SP Harishankar and Vaikom DYSP K Subash.

Before the interrogation commenced this morning at 11.00 AM, senior police officers had a meeting. The outcome after the first day’s interrogation the police had with the bishop was far from satisfactory. Today’s interrogation has become all the more important for the fact that with the first day’s unsatisfactory statements by the bishop has justified that the police can take him into custody, especially with the High Court not preventing any arrest.

Today’s interrogation is based on the contradictory statements issued by the bishop and the eventual arrest, if the police decides to do so. The question of whether the bishop will be arrested depends on the statements he would be making during the interrogation during the course of the day. From the statement issued by Mulakkal yesterday, the police is making all out efforts to counter his arguments with the evidences they have gathered will force the bishop to go on defensive mode is what the calculation is all about. If that happens, the it would lead to the arrest of Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun. Meanwhile, the number of supporters who are supporting the agitating nuns are increasing in large numbers.

Bishop Franco Mulakkal from the Jalandhar Diocese is facing the Kerala Crime Branch Police today for an interrogation regarding the case registered against him for the rape of a nun. The bishop, who arrived yesterday in Kochi had in fact, moved the Kerala High Court for an anticipatory bail sensing trouble that he would be arrested by the Kerala Police. This is the second time that the priest has been interrogated in connection with the alleged crime.

It may be recalled that the Kerala Police had gone to Jalanandhar to question Bishop Mullakkal recently. The bishop has arrived at the Crime Branch office just a while ago. A five-member police team from the Crime Branch, led by Vaikom Deputy Superintendent of Police, K Subash will question the bishop. So far, the police has not arrest Bishop Mulakkal, as he is cooperating with the police, the department did not feel the compulsion of arresting him, Subash said and added the police could arrive at the doorstep of the bishop, if the need arises. At the end of the interrogation, if the police could get enough evidence, the bishop might as well be arrested, as per highly placed sources.

Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the Jalandhar Diocese has sought anticipatory bail from the Kerala High Court pertaining to rape of a nun, which is likely to be heard during the course of the day, news agency PTI reported. As per the report, the 54 year old bishop had claimed that the allegations heaped by the nun from the same Jalandhar Diocese is wholly concocted and cooked up only to to wreak vengeance for the actions taken by him on various complaints received against her. Claiming innocence, the bishop also said the complaint was nothing but a fictional story by the nun.

Earlier, in a letter dated September 16, 2018, sent to Pope Francis of the Vatican, Bishop Mulakkal had sought permission to demit office temporarily, saying he needed more time to travel to Kerala and fight the case. The bishop also issued a circular delegating Monsignor Mathew Kokkandum to administer the activities of Diocese on his behalf as he was issued a notice by the Kerala Police to appear before it on September 19, 2018 for further investigations, noted the report.

As per the case, a nun from the Catholic congregation of Missionaries of Jesus in Jalandhar had lodged a police complaint against Bishop Mulakkal as early as June this year, alleging that he raped her and further subjected her to unnatural sex as many as thirteen times from 2014 at a convent located at Kuravilangad in Kerala. The nun accused the bishop of sending lewd messages and obscene pictures over the mobile phone and the nun had already informed Cardinal George Alancherry, Head, Syro-Malabar Church in Kochi regarding the abuse. What is more, Cardinal Alencherry has claimed that the nun had talked about the “torture” at the congregation, but did not mention sexual abuse. As the Church took no action, the nun approached the police. The nun also alleged that Bishop Mulakkal is using political and money power to bury the case against him. Apparently, the nun had sought an urgent intervention of the Vatican for justice and demanded the bishop’s removal as the head of the Jalandhar diocese, questioning why the church was “closing its eyes to the truth” when she had mustered the courage to make her suffering public, added the report.